While each business proposal is considered on its own particular merits, preference is given in the following instances:

• Financing fixed assets and the fixed portion of growth in working capital requirements
• BEE acquisition funding, which is considered on a case-by-case basis with preference given to the funding of expansionary acquisitions (where most of the acquisition funds remain within the target company for expansionary purposes) and further subject to the IDC’s Black Economic Empowerment Funding Policy)
• Project preparation funding, where such projects are aligned to the Chemicals, Medical & Industrial Minerals SBU’s strategies. This funding process is managed by the Industrial Planning and Project Development Department (please enquire for further assistance in this regard)

• Security, the form and nature of which will relate to your specific circumstances
• Compliance with international environmental standards
• Shareholders/owners are expected to make a significant financial contribution, generally a minimum of 35% of total assets depending on industry norms and risk profile. We prefer our exposure not to exceed that of the owners of the business. However, the contribution of Black Industrialists (BI) under specific circumstances may be lowered to between 10% and 20% of the total funding requirement (“skin in the game”), with the balance of equity to be provided by other partners
• The business must exhibit economic merit in terms of profitability and sustainability

Note: The IDC does not refinance fixed assets, since our aim is to expand the existing industrial base.

• For the chemicals, medical and industrial minerals industries, a minimum loan size of R15-million at a prime-linked interest rate
• Smaller funding requirements (between R1-million and R15-million) are handled by the IDC’s Small Business Finance Department (please enquire for further assistance in this regard)
• For investments in the rest of Africa: the Chemicals, Medical and Industrial Mineral Products SBU is mandated to fund transactions within the geographical limits of the African continent and further subject to internal country and other limits (please enquire for further detail)

The project must be of direct benefit to South Africa in any of the following ways:

• Must promote regional economic development with linkage to SA
• Upstream / Downstream businesses within IDC value chains
• Must develop and integrate regional value chains in line with IDC priority sectors
• Must support the implementation efforts of the AFCFTA in order to entrench the development of regional VCs and a move away from a reliance on offshore supply chains
• The minimum size of the total project funding requirement must be:
  • R5-million SACU-based investments
  • USD 3 million for SADC-based investments
  • USD10-million for investments in countries outside SADC
  • Rand, US Dollar and Euro-based funding are available.